Snake Sisters
by Monkeybandit2
Summary: A twist of fate and destiny. Strangers become something more in a way they didn't expect.
1. Chapter 1

**I own not either Naruto nor One Piece though I wish I do... Oh well have fun reading the story while I mop in the corner!**

Snake Sisters

Chapter 1: Meet the family

Konoha

Family. A point of view for all.

"GET BACK HERE!"

The definition for family from a text book or a likewise source would be a group of people who are closely related by birth, marriage, or adoption.

"WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!"

A group of people (or animals depending on occupation) living together and functioning as a single household, usually consisting of parents and their children.

"NARUTOOOOO!"

Or lineage, people who are descended from a common ancestor.

Naruto Uzumaki cackled like he never cackled before as he ran leapt from roof to roof in a hot pursuit chase with the second person in history capable of keeping up and even catching him on more than one occasion that was soon to rival Iruka Umino's record. But unlike Iruka...

Then there are the more philosophical definitions of a family such as "a family doesn't have to be related to be one." Or "only people related to each other are considered family." But that is only to name a few.

A figure leapt up on the roof to cut off his frontal escape path. A second one landed on the roof not too far away. His chaser shifted herself to form a impromptu triangle around him. A pair of knuckles cracked ominously behind him followed by a equally grave voice, "Any last words _dear little brother_?"

Naruto took in a deep breath before twisting his head around to the speaker to flash a cheeky grin and the peace sign before... "Poof!"

"NARUTOOOOOOO!"

XVX

Training ground nine

Naruto was having the time of his life as he gasped for air between fits as he lies on the ground. Who expected a mission with a snobby actress would bring in such joy to his life! Of course she did get getter towards the end of the-

"Gumphf-Aaaaaaah!"

Something not only ran him over, but his jacket somehow caught onto sandal of the blur; he's being dragged to death!

Correction, was being dragged to death till the blur stopped, disconnected the improvised hook, and lifted the genin onto his back. "I'm sorry about that, Kakashi's youthful student! Lee and I were having a most youthful race when I failed to notice you! Would you like me to carry you to the hospital or your home?"

A second blur became more detailed when it stopped next to the duo. "Hello Naruto! How're you on this youthful day?" Lee exclaimed. It was then he noticed Naruto's position on his sensei's back. "Are we now racing around with added weight to our backs sensei? You are a genius Guy-sensei! Please wait here!" With that, Rock Lee leapt into the nearby brush and scrambled to find equal or close to Naruto's projected weight.

Naruto chuckled slightly. "No I'm fine. If you can drop me off at the Ichirauku's, then I'll be good to go."

An semi-ominous hissing trickled into his ears and his blood ran cold. "On second thought I don't mind helping you two train at all! Ten laps around Konoha minimum?"

"Yes!" Two voices cried out, and off they went like a pair of bullets with Lee tearing his way out of the woodwork with a log hugging his back.

A feminine figure dropped out of the trees not too far behind them and gave chase with a abnormally large snake following closely behind. "Get back here Naruto!" she screamed.

"First one to finish will be treated for ramen by me!" Naruto yelled with as much vigor as possible to keep his fear at bay.

"You don't even have money!" his pursuer screamed as she tried to catch up with the now energized duo leaving her to bite their dust.

"Yes! And if either of us doesn't first then we will run twenty more laps around Konoha! If we cannot do that then we will walk on our hands around Konoha for ten laps! If we..."

Might Guy's voice easily faded as the distance between the two grew exponentially. The young woman bent over and clutched her knees as she tried to catch her breath when a sudden thought hit her. "Wait, are they both going to do their insane claims or is it just the loser of the race?"

XVX

Hokage's office, Hokage Tower

Tsunade slammed the rubber stamp on the very last parchment that was her bane. Without pause she ripped open a drawer and retrieved the elixir of recreation favored by all drinkers in the Elemental Nations as well as a saucer. Without missing a beat she spun her chair and gazed out at Konoha as she poured herself a cup of sake.

She barely touched her lips to the drink when she spotted a green and blond blur being chased by another green blur, which was chased by another green and orange blur accompanied by a fiery orange with a lighter orange blur across the rooftops. Another blur joined in from the streets followed by a relatively slow moving snake. The Hokage shook her head and she rolled her eyes at a clock on the wall.

"Lunch and a show. Better than nothing," she commented to herself.

The door slammed open and a familiar rhythm of burdened footsteps resonated from behind her chair. "More paperwork Lady Hokage," Shizune called out.

"Just five more minutes Shizune..." Tsunade whined.

XVX

Konoha street corner

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said he observed the fleeing figures near the Ramen Stand. He didn't need twenty-twenty vision to see Naruto panicking as the duo were slowing down and the trio behind them were easily catching up.

Naruto by himself was a comical nuisance, just about everyone could agree with that. Ever since the Uzumaki clan was reestablished however, the 'insanity' as it were was kicked up by a notch with public chases much like today's on a bimonthly basis. They all pretty much ended the exact same way.

XVX

In front of Ichiraku Ramen

"UNCLE!" Naruto pitifully screamed as he was tackled off the back of Might Guy. The green duo merely watched on from the sidelines before entering the stand to get their orders; though a little callous, the worse Naruto was going to get out of it was a few lumps and a bruised ego.

"Ah! Ah! I give!" Naruto squealed as his head was put in the vice that was his sister's hands grinding themselves into his skull. "Just because you do not like your ramen stash to be touch does not give you the right to replace all our clothes with your horrible jumpsuits!"

"I said I give! Marigold! Sandersonia! Help!" Naruto reached out to grab something, anything, to escape the noogie from hell!

"Hmm... I don't know, I think we all made it clear that replacing our clothes with those jumpsuits is a crime we all loath."

"Yes, I think you'll just have to take your punishment dear little brother."

"Mercy!"

"Never!" they all shouted.

A crowd started to gather on the street to observe the spectacle before them. All four members of the Uzumaki clan had gathered. Keeping the infamous "Dead-Last" Naruto in place with her legs wrapped around him like a snake was the oldest of the four, Hancock Uzumaki of age sixteen. Standing not too far with slightly malicious grins over the blonds' torture were the younger sisters Marigold and Sandersonia Uzumaki.

There were many arguments floating around the family. Who was the clan head? Was this really a clan? Was Naruto Uzumaki really related to Kushina Uzumaki? And for the day: why were they all wearing orange jumpsuits?

By the end of the day several facts remained: this was the Uzumaki clan. Whether they were related by blood or not didn't matter to them. Normal has yet to apply to them in any way.

XVX

Nosuri Retreat

"Those brats are at it again," one person grumbled.

"You're fault it happened."

"And you weren't drooling yourself?"

"At least out of the two I'm age appropriate."

"I thought you were in the men and women only camp."

"Shut up."

"I wasn't the only one charmed that day by her looks alone."

"You were the one who blabbed about the boy's inheritance."

The man's eyes narrowed. "That was Moku and you were the one who supported that outsider's decision to be an Uzumaki."

The female patron directed a smoldering glare at a unassuming waiter merely doing his job, the sheer heat from the glare forced him to a standstill out of fear for his life.

The man grinned a little malicious, "She does look cute when she pouts though."

"_Shut up_," the other patron said through clenched teeth.

XVX

Ichiraku Ramen

The miraculous power of ramen could only go so far to heal the mother of all headaches. It didn't help that Hancock's pet snake, Salome, was watching him like a hawk...

Naruto sniffed a little, all he could do is wish that Gama-chan could survive the ordeal.

XVX

Uzumaki home

"And here's the last one." With a small thump, the very last of collective army of orange jumpsuits landed inside a trash bag before it was zipped up and shipped out by an overeager fan. Not too far off was Hancock in Naruto's room with an evil grin as she escaped the confines of the jumpsuit to a purple dress with black snakes coursing through it.

"Let's see how he likes it when your clothes have been replaced," she spoke barely above a whisper. One by one she had inserted various shirts and pants for both a civilian life and her little brother's shinobi life, all of which were Strictly. Not. Orange.

She reached over to grab a pair of blue slacks when she spotted Naruto's "pet frog" Gama-chan. Her eyes became slits at the fat frog themed wallet, which she could swear it was laughing at her. The most they had spent in terms of money, anyone's money on their part, was Naruto's little stipend to keep him busy at the Ramen Stand.

Being beautiful was both a gift and a curse at times.

She smirked. So far there were only two people in her life, outside her sisters of course, that weren't swayed by physical beauty and one of them... of course she could only account for one. Still...

She picked up a pair pants and placed it inside the closet. A hand began to push one set down the rail holding the clothing up with an eye casually following it. It widened then narrowed once more as it spotted something. An _orange_ something. She plucked it out.

Her scowl diminished as her brow furrowed in confusion as she noticed how it appeared beaten, tattered, and had a gaping set of holes riddled along the chest. She sat herself on the bed as she filtered through her memories trying to remember when Naruto was the least bit harmed... so far the only times that came to mind was when he came home from any _serious_ training with his team and the occasional thumping on his skull when he does something stupid yet this suit testified to a more deadly assault.

Her gritted her teeth in frustration. He wasn't seriously injured in the entire time they had known each other since...

Realization dawned on her and her lip quavered between the urge to smile as well as frown at the same time.

"Has it really been a year already?" she asked herself.

She traced a finger along a hole as a ghost from the past spoke in her ear. "I never go back on my word."

She smiled softly.

**A/N: This idea/concept has been plaguing me for some time that I eventually couldn't withstand it any more. Makes me feel fuzzy inside knowing it's the first of its kind: A story with Boa Hancock more as a family member than a romantic interest!**

**Speaking of which, NeonZangetsu, I demand you update your stories in those regards! That being said... DON'T HURT ME! (Flees!)**

**For the record, no. Not a romance story between the Gorgon Sisters and Naruto. I am not leaving this as a discussion.**

**Unfortunately I have to leave this on a sour note: this story will not be updated regularly. Admittedly I kind of wrote this to see what kind of reaction I could create in the Naruto/One Piece community. For what it's worth I apologize for this.**

**Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I own not either Naruto nor One Piece though I wish I do... Oh well have fun reading the story while I mope in the corner!**

**My warning is still in effect.**

Snake Sisters

Chapter 2: Sisters Boa, part 1

_(Flashback!)_

One year ago, coast of the Land of Spring

Sleep heavy eyes groggily opened at the insistence of the morning sun. The sun was given a half-hearted glare before being yawned at and ignored by its victim when said victim turned around and covered her head with the blanket. Though she would admit the sun had no fault in all this, but one, there was a warm bed to lay on and two, this was the greatest luxury she has had in years.

"Can someone please cover the window?" a teenage girl's voice groaned out.

"You do it, you're closer," replied another voice just as weary as the first.

"Leave it be. The heat's a nice change of things," a third half-stated. Mild groans of approval were uttered before the sheets of the bed were rumpled.

Outside someone shouted out what may have been a name or an adjective followed by the sudden shock made the ship lurch forward; all three girls were rolled out of their beds into a pile.

"It's too early for this sort of thing!"

"What was that?!"

"I think it was that bonehead again..."

With the same eagerness associated with every rude awakening, the trio soon stormed out the door to investigate thus revealing themselves to the world. Each one was dressed in near exact copies of closed toe sandals, scruffy shorts, and tank tops that were once shirts, the former being white while the latter was reddish-brown in color; both articles of clothing were a on the side of being oversized for them. The first was the tallest of the trio, dwarfing them both by a head in both size and in literal size of her own head. Other than height and a block shaped head, her most distinctive feature was her sea green hair, not to mention matching eyes, that reached to her shoulders.

The second was the second tallest, though by a centimeter or so to the third member, at best she reached the first's chin. Her own hair was similar in length though a fiery orange, and her eyes were black.

The third was, as said, shorter by at least a centimeter or more than the second figure. Her own jet black hair was long as the others and her own eyes were a dark blue.

"I think it at least involved the bonehead," the first intoned.

From above they observed a pink haired in a red dress with white circles and borders being chewed out by a sailor while both were being ignored by a black haired boy in blue as he leaned over the railing to brood. But what was most interesting of all was a new addition to the ship. A sizable hole that could easily granted passage between the deck and the confines below.

Emerging from the darkness below came a gloved yet plated hand, quickly followed by an arm, and subsequently the body of a white haired man in a green vest and blue clothing underneath who hoisted up a blond haired boy in a orange jumpsuit who they knew seen better days.

"Yep. He was involved," the second intoned.

"Not that I don't enjoy a man being put in his place, I have to draw the line when the ship has to be fixed." Both the first and second nodded their heads in quiet unison.

The third however only stared at the boy as the man who dragged him up tried to coax him into the conscious realm. Ultimately none of the girls really communicated at length with _anyone_ on the ship save for the pinked haired girl, a Leaf kunoichi named Sakura Haruno, but something nagged at her mind when she spotted the boy known as Naruto Uzumaki. It was his voice really that rung some bells, but she couldn't put her finger on where she heard it for the dear life of her.

Regardless, sleep wasn't coming back to them any time soon.

XVX

Galley

"Damn brat," a sailor growled as he viciously ate the morning gruel that was breakfast. Accidents were one thing, stupidity was another. They were just lucky that kid didn't go through the hull or else they were quite literally dead in the water given the temperatures outside. The Land of Snow, now Spring, have radically changed but the sea bowed to no master short of a god. That and no one liked to freeze to death. At least no one sane that is.

Nonetheless it was a moot point and someone, probably him, was going to have to patch up that hole.

Another ship rocking crash rippled through the ship.

Correction_, he was going to patch up the holes_. With any luck the damn brat responsible would either be hogtied to the mast, somehow, or forced to help in the repairs provided that even more patches needed to be made.

Shouts, screams, and even wood being crunched all but pierced through the walls of the galley. The entire felt as if it was being tipped over.

"_Crap_."

XVX

Deck

"You really think you can escape retribution?!"

"Who are these guys?!" Naruto heatedly asked as he drawn a kunai alongside his teammates in a diamond formation. Just moments before an iceberg emerged from the ocean and skewered the ship as it forced it to run aground as the glacial behemoth rose up from the depths. Now standing above the crashed ship was twelve shinobi on a makeshift mountain of ice.

"Does it even matter?" Sakura growled.

"It looks like... Snow shinobi?" Kakashi said. His lone eye narrowed as he spotted a detail he missed, the headbands were slashed. "Rogue shinobi," he corrected himself.

Every non-shinobi vacated the deck with due haste while the iceberg was turning into a island.

"Please tell me they're not wearing that armor thing," Naruto groaned.

"For once I agree with the idiot," Sasuke muttered.

"I hope so too!" Sakura cheerily shouted.

"Sorry to dash your hopes but they are. Otherwise I would have to guess that this island is a group effort." The sore groans of his students assailed Kakashi's ears.

As if on cue, the shinobi descended, a couple by leaps while the rest either made snowboards from ice or deployed it from some kind of chute from their backs or arms. Each of the boarders drew out a kunai with a tag attached, and launched them at the ship; the ones up above let loose their own kunai by the dozen with their own payloads much to Kakashi's wide eyed horror. "Abandon ship!" he cried.

Every sailor savvy with fights between shinobi heeded his warning at the drop of a hat, dragging any more novice crewmembers amongst other civilians with them as they jumped overboard to escape the scene. The shinobi soon followed the sailor's example as the first wave landed with very audible "thunks," and their payload erupting with enough force to obliterate chunks of the ship's haul by themselves as opposed to groups.

Unfortunately the shockwaves caused by them, amplified further as the second group landed on the ship's deck, scattered the leaf shinobi team before they found purchase on the iced ground below.

XVX

Snow/ice field

Naruto groaned as he groggily got up from the small indent that was his landing. "To think Sakura's punches packed a punch..." Bones popped, indicated how long he didn't move, with another groan and a grunt he pops the cricks of his body to a greater extent as he got onto his feet. "Where am I?" he asked himself as he looked around for something, anything, other than ice. So far the closest thing to company, friendly or non, was a hefty chunk of what may have been the ship.

With another groan, and a small set of bones that had yet to be popped, he got up and stretched some more while looking about.

It was more than obvious that he had no idea where he was, and it was closing in on noon if the sun's position was anything to go by.

He sighed. "I suppose there's only way to find everyone." His hands were brought together in a cross shaped symbol. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Dozens upon dozens of Naruto clones were called into existance.

"Alright guys, let's go find everyone!" the original yelled while pumping a fist in the air.

"Yeah!"

"Let's do it!"

In groups ranging three-to-five, they all departed in their own direction.

XVX

Elsewhere

"Gah!"

A third body joined a set of two more, each one from Yuki- the Village Hidden in the Snow. Formerly of Yuki to be exact given their status as rogues, not to mention the village was possibly going to be renamed much like the land itself.

A mixed blessing of sorts to Kakashi. Not only did it mean that there isn't a village after them, but given Yuki's apparent heavy used of chakra armor they weren't particularly strong by themselves. Then again he only took out a fourth of the group after them, there was no real way to tell the capacity of the others despite handling them. Combine that to the fact his Genin were scattered, it was trouble with a capital t.

A strange, almost universal fact about rogue shinobi is that at minimum they were Chunin level shinobi when they leave their village. Then again a _extreme_ few rogue Genin class shinobi live long enough or become dangerous enough to ever be put into the Bingo books.

Regardless, Sasuke was skilled but he was no Chunin. Sakura... he had the decency to cough and scratched his head while look away even though he wasn't talking to anyone. And Naruto... well his arsenal was limited to virtually the shadow clone technique...

His eye twitched. Now that he thought about it...

"Please tell me I'm not being punished for my teaching methods..." The roll of thunder from a cloudless sky was not helpful in the least...

XVX

Elsewhere, again

Between a cell and being trapped under one of many remains of the ship, the real difference was the lack of company.

Company...

That was a light way to put the presence of loathsome men, and the occasional woman, that she had to deal with over the years with her sisters.

Unfortunately it sounded like she would have company soon with the sound of a group approaching her.

An orange blur sped past her line of sight, then another, followed yet another. A fourth came by only to slip up; her brow twitched as she recognized who it was. Bonehead.

Otherwise known as Naruto Uzumaki...

"Ow..." he groaned as he got up. The a careless eye glanced upon the wreckage decorating the landscape, but it focused as it caught sight of the trapped girl, the third of the trio that had boarded the ship with them, pinned by the very edge of what may have been a part the ship's aft (middle section), amongst other things that left only her upper body visible.

He swiveled his head to shout for his comrades, only to find they had already ran off without noticing his absence. "Jerks," he mumbled as he brought up his hands in a seal.

The ship's prisoner gawked as half a dozen boneheads "poofed" into existence. Her awe turned into confusion, then slightly irritation when they congregated around her, or rather the ship if she was to be precise, and were doing something. What it was, she couldn't tell, tour into the ship piece by piece after whatever tool or jutsu was employed and empowered out of her sight.

The ship's remains creaked and groaned as more of its abused integrity was demolished by something, something that when slammed into it produced a grinding noise let alone had a distinct whine to it before its use. "Rasengan!"

A hand curled around a swirling ball of blue light obliterated the deck that was holding her in place, the hand itself emerging but four feet away from her left shoulder; four feet too close.

"There we go! Alright, push!"

How he did such work so fast she couldn't figure out, but the results were undeniable in which she was able to scuttle away from the wreckage that was her prison, although proven temporary. She moved to stand but collapsed onto the iced ground below in a pained hiss when her leg all but screamed in her ears that it wouldn't stand for her.

"Hey are you alri-"

A hand outstretched to help her was slapped away with vehement poison in both action and in the look she gave the startled Genin. "I don't need anyone's help, especially if it's a man's help," she snarled.

She glanced at her own leg. It appeared to be fine... till she tried to move it. She couldn't hide the grimace of agony from anyone let alone hide it from herself.

"Hey-"

"Just leave me alone!" she snarled again.

Before she knew it, he was crouching low and scowling in her face. "Look here. I don't know what you're problem is and frankly I don't care. You're injured and I am not going to run off knowing that there is somebody injured back here." He leaned in closer till their eyes threatened to touch. "Like it or not I am not going to leave you here to die."

Her own eyes widened at the mild rebuke.

She wanted to snarl back but she held back. "Damn it..." she cursed inwardly.

He was determined not to leave her be, reasoning be damned. Regardless of the fact he helped her out from the wreckage he was, for all intents and purposes, a man. A boy actually but a man nonetheless. Who was there to say he couldn't betray her or abandon his ideals when push comes to shove? Yet her bum leg...

Then there was her sisters to think about. Were they alright? Are they captured by some crook looking for a pretty penny if nothing else? The icy hand of fear clutched at her heart.

She had no choice if nothing else...


	3. Chapter 3

**I own not either Naruto nor One Piece though I wish I do... Oh well have fun reading the story while I mope in the corner!**

**My warning is still in effect.**

Snake Sisters

Chapter 3: Sisters Boa, part 2

Iceberg island

"Slow down damn it!" hissed his agitated injured passenger who had made no effort to hide her disdain for him, his gender, and his ability in carrying her and her injured leg around in a stretcher made out of henged clones assisted by another while the real one lead the stretcher.

"It's not my fault this place is so jagged!" Naruto grouched to himself. "I heard that! You're just making excuses!"

If she could, he would've heard the twitching of an eyebrow in growing annoyance as the thought of leaving her steadily became a very handsome idea. But there was his nindo... and he gave his word to help Boa Hancock as she was named as well as find her missing sisters. Sometimes it sucked to be a good guy as it would seem.

Overall their trek could be going better, but with a broken leg or at least an injured one Naruto had little choice but to walk slowly as the terrain would permit. Uphill too no less amongst other things.

All things considering, the slope was rather gentle yet had its challenges with unexpected pitfalls and cracks that lay hidden in the icy hill, but they continued nonetheless if they were to have some chance to find Naruto's teammates or Hancock's sisters.

Almost mercifully for the beleaguered genin, they had reached the top and both the original and the clone position themselves to allow Hancock a view of the valley below. Her attention was drawn to the blond haired boy when his head turned to eye her. She saw his jaw open to say something, but the voice was not his own. "Naruto's home!"

_(End Flashback!)_

XVX

Naruto's room, Uzumaki compound

Hancock shook in startled fright and swiveled her head to view Sandersonia peeking inside from the doorway, her eyes bulged to find a remnant of the army's worth of orange jumpsuits Naruto all but refused to get rid of... by choice. The eldest of the sisters stiffened as she heard the faint creaking of the front door being opened and a greeting from their younger brother to announce his arrival.

Acting on a hunch and a small bit of fright of being caught in his room, Hancock brought a pair of fingers to her lips and lets forth a shrill whistle.

The results were instantaneous.

With a thud, Naruto's complaint soon echoed into his room. "Come on Salome, get off me!"

"Hancock, Salome won't get off of me!" Naruto complained from the foyer. The two found in his room merely snuck out, quietly shut the door, and snuck off to another to leave Naruto none the wiser about their presence in the house. "Hancock? Sandersonia? Marigold? Anybody?!"

They infiltrated and closed the door of Hancock's room with an inaudible click, yet Sandersonia clasped both hands around her mouth to mute the giggle emanating from it. It quickly died when Hancock took to her bed as a chair with the jumpsuit in question. At first it died down out of aggravation to find one of Naruto's jumpsuits surviving the purge but slowly turned to an unspoken worry as she noticed the details she missed on the first glance. The suit had seen better days, that was for certain.

The bittersweet smile of Hancock did nothing to quell the dread suspicion in her.

"Say, do you remember the day you actually met Naruto?"

"Huh?" Sandersonia intelligently said as she tilted her head in confusion.

The smile never left the eldest's face as she turned to the younger before resuming the conversation. "Remember? When we actually met him rather than watched him?" As if to emphasize her question, the jumpsuit's holes were brandished more broadly in the light of the room.

Sandersonia's head tilted as her puzzlement only grew as the cogs of her mind whirred and meshed together... till the results were manifested.

XVX

_(Flashback!)_

Cavern

"Hold still you little punk!" bellowed a rogue shinobi of Yuki as he pursued Naruto. A Naruto at least given that there was a number or close to the number of twenty of the orange wearing genin jumping around. His attention was too focused on a single one, possibly _the_ one, to notice a pair of the blonds behind him with one of them helping form a ball of swirling blue energy in the palm of the other.

All the while two sisters got reacquainted over the heat of the battle behind an outcropping of ice. "Thank the gods you're alive! Are you hurt? Is it a sprained ankle?" Sandersonia spouted amongst other worried questions.

"I'm fine. The only thing that truly bothers me at this point is that knuckleheaded brute," Hancock gave out as a union of a growl and a moan of pain.

"RASENGAN!"

"GAH!"

The resounding crash into the side of the cavern did little to help Naruto's case in the eyes of the two Boa sisters.

"Ha ha! That's what you get for messing with Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!"

"Please tell me he isn't this energetic..." Sandersonia crooned.

"Unfortunately he is..."

XVX

Ice/snow field

"Chidori!" A lightning coated hand pierced through a wall of ice, but the real target wasn't there.

"Ice Release: Dread Spear!" With a swivel of the head, Sasuke's Sharingan witnessed the javelin seeking his life to which he flipped away from and landed in a crouch, only to roll forward to avoid the arm-blade of another shinobi trying to slay him.

He "humphed" as he cracked his neck at the new arrival to his skirmish.

XVX

"Where is everyone?" Sakura mumbled to herself as she started to climb the side of a hill with a gentle slope.

XVX

For Kakashi, he could breath a little easier knowing that the rogue team sent against him is now at half strength.

However that was cold comfort. So far none of his opponents showed any real skill as a shinobi; they relied on their armor too much for a jutsu offensive where other skills could be useful. They were especially weak in the department of taijutsu. However there is still a sizable chance that the others were their superiors in some function, and anything _can_ and most likely _will_ happen f given a chance.

So far he only encountered a total of six shinobi originating Yuki but no one else. Not his team. Not the ship's crew. Not any of the other passengers of the ship. Not even a bird.

_Smack_!

Mosquitoes, somehow alive despite the temperature, notwithstanding.

"Ow..."

XVX

Yuki base camp

"Oof!" A sailor grunted as he was shoved into a carved pit with a number of his companions and some of the passengers of the wrecked ship.

"Excuse me sir, but what's the point in-"

The shinobi in question never finished his sentence when ice encased his body long before he knew his end had come.

The only other member of the group of rogues, aside from the one sitting on block of ice in a long billowing cloak of dark purple regality, kept his own distance and choose not to speak a work as the hands of the cloaked one balled into fists.

"Bleeding hearts like theirs will ultimately lure them here," the cloaked man answered heatedly as he glared at a figure only perceivable to him.

XVX

Mountainside

"Can you be any rougher?" Sandersonia chided as the pair of blonds ferried her sister along the rough pathway leading to the valley below.

"Hey! Its not easy with all this jagged ice and stuff! Not to mention we could be attacked at any given moment!" a Naruto rebuked.

"Then wouldn't it be easier to defend against an attack from _higher_ ground?" Sandersonia stated more than questioned in a half heated growl, joined in by the grunt of approval from Hancock.

Both Naruto's twitched at that, with enough force to even jerk their heads to the side.

"Yeah..." he shakily replied. "But!" he suddenly added, "this path we're one only leads to that cave I was fighting in earlier!"

It was the sisters' turn to twitch at being bested by who they deemed dimwitted.

It was then things got hectic: Naruto, with eyes closed as he laughed in victory, stubbed his toe on an outlying and unyielding piece of ice. Overwhelmed by the sudden onrush of pain, he let go of the stretcher to grab at his rising foot in an immediate attempt to alleviate the pain. Upon realizing what he just down in onset horror, he twists about in the same spot and lurches downward to grab the falling end of the stretcher only for gravity to take him and have him slide down the icy walkway. In a bid to stop the potential crash of the stretcher, his hands were brought up in a t shaped hand seal as he slide away which conjured another Naruto into existence which did grab the stretcher.

"Hey, watch it you bonehead!" yelled Hancock in an enraged yet frightened fashion.

"Sorry, I just-"

Gravity ensnared the clone too... followed by both Hancock and the only other clone if the 'stretcher' was to be excluded.

"AAAAAAAH!"

During which, the real Naruto groaned as he managed to climb out of a bank of snow. Unfortunately it was the same time he realized his clones and his passenger were also coming at him at inhumane speeds.

"Aw crap..."

_Crash_!

"You idiot!"

_Bonk_!

"Ow!"

Sandersonia, standing aloof, gazed on a one sided fight between her older sister and the orange wearing blond with an unhinged jaw. "He's suppose to be protecting us?" she deadpanned.


	4. Chapter 4

**I own not either Naruto nor One Piece though I wish I do... Oh well have fun reading the story while I mope in the corner!**

**My warning is still in effect.**

Snake Sisters

Chapter 4: Sisters Boa, part 3

Arctic Valley, Iceberg island

In a small plateau of the valley between a wall of ice and cracked slopes that bordered a sizable pathway, a cry was heard. "Go slower you boneheaded imbecile!"

"Aren't those two synonyms?" The one good foot the crippled teenager had smashed into the back of the blonde's head. "Ow! Will you _please_ stop that?!" The foot kicked the back of his skull once more followed by an indignant, haughty "hrmmph!"

"Ok, that is _IT!_" he bellowed as he came to an abrupt stop that jostled the stretcher, especially when the clone at the other end stumbled slightly at the sudden halt. In a near instant he somehow reversed his grip as he seemingly teleported in his spot to face the injured girl without losing his hold over the stretcher; their faces would've been separated by inches if psychics wasn't an issue on many a level. "I honestly don't get you! What is it that I have done to you to deserve this treatment?!"

Hancock's eyes narrowed to slits as she hissed her reply. "You keep taking us over rough terrain that keeps bumping this half baked stretcher. You keep acting like a smart aleck. And worst of all is that _you're a man_." If the venom in her voice was meant to cripple in some fashion, it only made him angrier instead.

"You know what? Fine! If you don't like it, then fine!" Both Naruto and his clone, the latter seemingly confused for reasons unknown, set the stretcher of henged clones down and the former stormed off to an outcropping of icy boulders and jutting fissures. "Where are you going?!" Sandersonia roared at the retreating blond while the clone of the boy wandered to the side to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

"To cool off, what else?!" Naruto barked back as he climbed one of the boulders and jumped onto a higher standing one which he claimed as a seat to sulk.

"Useless sack of..." Hancock snarled as she slammed her balled fist in a fit of rage, and winces horribly when her strength proved enough to disrupt the concentration and power of the clones that had supported her up to this point. "Damn it!" she hissed through clenched teeth when her injured limb bounced slightly from the half-inch long drop. Sandersonia was at her side in an instant. "Unruly brute," she growled as she tentatively tended to the limb with no visible injury. But while Sandersonia's boiling aggravation was aimed towards the brooding blond sitting crossed legged with a fist smashed against his chin, Hancock's own irritation... was aimed within. While it's easy to direct her annoyance and hostility begot from it on the very manifestation of her hate, though didn't quite fit the role, she couldn't help but feel a minute pang of guilt. Something about the genin reminded her of something, but no matter how hard she tried her mind continued to failed what he reminded her of. She definitely heard his voice before, but where? The voice alone wasn't even a reason to get her goat, it was the question that ran through her mind each time he spoke.

"Why is his voice familiar?"

No answer came to her as of yet... and it only served to infuriate her as she tore through her mind more and more to find the answer.

"Sandersonia! Hancock!"

Two heads pivoted and even smiled peacefully as the third of the sisters came running, her arm waving frantically as a blissful gaping smile featured itself on her lips. They were reunited at long last...

_Crack!_

_Everyone's_ attention turned to along the high valley wall where three dragons of ice sprouted from it and _roared_ like the beasts they were, despite of course being animated ice. In a dreadful swoop, all three descended on the sisters at speeds beyond terminal velocity and scooped them up in stubby limbs equipped with claws. Neither the real Naruto nor his clone had a chance to grab onto the constructs as they climbed back to their place of origin, or more specifically the cliff that overshadowed the mountainous side and the one that stood atop of it.

"Hey! Let them go you bastard!" Naruto screamed as he tried to give chase, yet the ascent of the constructs of ice had already carried both the sisters and themselves beyond his reach long before he reached a fourth of the way from his spot; the distance was too great for all but the most phenomenal of chakra enhanced jumps. From above, the shinobi controlling the ice dragons took his time to bend the ice around him to his will: apparent golems and cages of ice were formed.

"Damn it!" he hissed as he charged to the first natural ramp he spotted.

XVX

'Coast'

They say planning for the future before a battle is bad luck... all things considered, Kakashi wasn't concerned by that for one reason he wasn't planning before an engagement, per se at least, and for a second reason he wasn't in a battle... per se given the lack of skill from what he faced so far. At the very least he had no immediate concerns... sans finding his students of course. It was the realities of what happens afterward, when the rogue shinobi are subdued, that was of concern in Kakashi's mind.

Their ship was ruined and there wasn't nothing but ice all around...

Cold...

Frozen...

Solid...

Water...

_Smack!_

And mosquitoes for reasons beyond him.

Carving a ship out of the from the ice could _possibly_ work... it was also likely it would melt long before they made it to a rock, no matter how thick they made the hull. Not to mention sailing such a craft would be an issue by itself. Building one from scrap or even from the wreckage was obviously out of the question lest they have a riot on their hands if they managed to make so much as a cumbersome smaller craft of the once behemoth, which in itself would hold much less people than the original ship. With any luck the iceberg that was the island was already drifting towards a shipping lane, but he wasn't holding his breath on that. And no ships were in sight...

"Just great," Kakashi groaned as he rubbed the side of his face bearing his good eye.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" The man jumped slightly with the abrupt turning of his head to spot Naruto running toward him as fast as his legs could carry him, his face red from exertion.

"Hey Naruto, how are you?" he spoke casually as he gave the heaving, hunching genin with hands on his knees for support a smile with the use of his visible eye. The latter threw his held up, unconcerned about his appearance. "I need your help sensei!" he yelled uncontrollably in his breath strained voice, "Some bastard just made off with Hancock and her sisters!"

Kakashi turned to fully face him and held up his hands to placate the distraught boy. "Calm down Naruto. Take a few deep breaths and tell me who you are talking about and what happened."

_(End Flashback!)_

XVX

Uzumaki compound

"I'm still stuck here! Come on!" Naruto cried wearily as he continued to wriggle his way out. Movement drew his eye to one of the corners and her growled in annoyance. "I saw your hair Marigold! Can you please get Salome off of me!?"

He didn't receive an answer.

"You guys aren't still mad about this morning are you?"

_Silence._ Growl of a hungry stomach notwithstanding.

"This is cruel and unusual punishment you know!"

He hung his head and let loose a bone tired sigh. "Can you guys at least get me a bowl of ramen and a pair of chopsticks? I'll figure something out!"

Elsewhere, while paying half minded attention to the whining squall of her adoptive brother, Marigold stuck her head into Hancock's room. "Why do you have Salome pinning Naruto down?" Her confusion, slightly stained in worry now, only grew when she spotted the tattered and ragged jumpsuit belonging to the squirming blond in question.

Whatever answer that was dealt fell upon deaf ears belonging to a busied mind.

XVX

_(Flashback!)_

Yuki base camp, Iceberg island

"I guess this teaches me for turning my back on Naruto," Kakashi mentally grunted as he locked blades with a more worthy adversary of the rogue shinobi while his student tackled the man that was their antagonist of their latest mission, Doto Kazahana!

"You will pay for your insolence you petulant brat!" the former ruler of the Land of Snow bellowed as he forced a dragon of blackened ice to barrel through a horde of clones. He was a man of blockish features with an enlarged nose to match. His hair was a darker shade of brown compared to most, and the armor he wore was reminiscent to the armor he worn in the last encounter he had with the child... the broken section over the left side of his ribs however proved that it was not of the same quality, nor of the same power of his previous suit as he had used two hands to make individual ice dragons to be used as missiles as opposed to one.

"Yeah right you bastard! Now give up and release everyone you have hostage!" a Naruto barked as he and several other clones charged with drawn kunai.

"Never! Ice Release: Forest of Spears!" The former Daimyo slammed a fist into the ground and willed a quagmire of pointed ice barbs awaiting its charging victims. They only ran around it. "Ice Release: Black Hail!" With his comparitively limited power, Doto turned a scooped up handful of crushed ice and lobbed the darkening ice at a horde of the clones which tore them to shreds. His attention however turned too late to handle the other wave of attackers who were only hastened in retaliation to Doto's assault.

From a trio of ice bound cages, the collective eyes of the Boa sisters only watched on as the Naruto clones, and presumably the genin himself, dog piled the man in a mass of jabs, kicks, and stabs, only to be rebelled with a pillar of the black ice shot through the collection of blonds and even dispelled a number of them. No word was spoken between them, nor replied to the crew of the wrecked ship still trapped in the pit when their continuous cries continued to ask for details of the world above.

As for Kakashi, his hand was coated in lightning which broke through a shielding of ice and even bit into the armor of his opponent.

Naruto, the real one, landed with a pained grunt at a sizable distance between the ex-Daimyo and the hostage sisters. A pained but determined fist clenched tightly and pounded against the ice as he climbed back onto his feet with a trail of blood seeping down his chin from his mouth.

"Give up!" Doto order from afar. "You are no match against me! You were only lucky the last time we faced each other!"

"Heh." Naruto Held his kunai aloft as a grin. "Keep telling yourself that you jerk."

A small pit was carved into the ground beneath Doto's right fist which he brought up to the same level sitting just beneath his shoulder, his fist encased in a swirling mass of cone shaped icicles blackened with malice. "Then the price of your treachery against the true lord of the Land of Snow falls upon your head..." He brought his swirling ball back as he would throw a normal punch. "And theirs!"

Even with the threat of the icicles now launched at him, the genin swerved his head back and gawked to find the sisters sitting in the ice cages behind him and backed all the way back in mild but heavily strained hope to escape the assault unharmed. Even from afar, it looked like they expected the worst to happen despite the small bid to protect themselves. He didn't even need to know how to read lips when the sisters turned to each other and say farewell with eyes laden with nonexistent tears.

The blond hands came together in the one hand seal that became his trademark by those who knew him. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

How many clones came into being was unknown and it wasn't from the sheer number alone, it was the amount of smoke that marked their conjuring that concealed their number. The smokescreen only grew in size with the hail of icicles seeking to spill blood tearing into the army of clones.

"Ice Release-"

"RASENGAN!"

Doto's cry of anguish permeated the air followed quickly by a heavy set crash that destroyed the spot of impact for wherever the man landed, and the sisters dared approach the edge of their cages in a attempt to see through the dissipating but heavy cloud of smoke that blocked the view of the battlefield.

"I want you to remember this till the day you die you jerk!" Naruto cried out from beyond the veil, "Naruto Uzumaki DOESN'T GIVE UP!" Even from a distance, they could hear the thud of a body dropping which only coaxed them to press their faces between the bars to see the scene. For Hancock however, she was actually trying to force her head through, either consciously or unconsciously, as dawning fell upon her egged on from a quote of her recent past of over a week ago.

"If you give up, your dreams, and everything else, will end right here!"

The haze began to clear enough for the oldest sister to whisper one word. One wish of rejection of the scene before her. One word laced with the fears of one seeing tragedy which rendered them unable to do a an act as simple as breathing.

_"No..."_

Naruto Uzumaki, the knucklehead that aided them so far, was on his back with half a dozen icicles digging into his chest.


	5. Chapter 5

**I own not either Naruto nor One Piece though I wish I do... Oh well have fun reading the story while I mope in the corner!**

**My warning is still in effect.**

Snake Sisters

Chapter 5: A moment

Corro, General Hospital, fourteen days later

His life wasn't in danger anymore by so much as an imagined threat, but that reason wasn't enough to force the raven haired teenager from Naruto's bedside as she stared off into space with a comatose Naruto never leaving her blank sight. No medical personal, for the body or mind, could get her to leave; her sisters didn't even try. All attempts have failed and those who partook in them were sent off as flustered, sputtering, blushing heaps of what they once were by the power of a all too sweet smile and a small but childishly cute plea to stay. Even Kakashi Hatake fell victim to Hancock's selfish ploy; Sasuke didn't even try to make an effort all together let alone Sakura.

The only ones that held any significance to Hancock, outside of her sisters and Naruto Uzumaki for the time being, were the doctors and nurses that came into the room to check the genin's vitals, change the IV bags, and other duties expected for a patient expected to wake up any day as well as bring in necessities to the trio of sisters that all but lived in said patient's room. Few things other than those collective four held anything worth batting an eyelash at, and that was including the omnipresence of time.

The only things Hancock could concern herself with for the time being was the distinct characteristics of the Leaf genin in front of her with only half a mind in doing so, during which her other half was devoted to another duty. A more strenuous duty. A migraine inducing duty from the conglomerate of trouble that threatened to have her snarl at those undeserving of the act, throw up the building bile from the lowest pits of her stomach, and wrack her body with a shudder of evils past that were barely held back, all to remember a voice. A voice labored with pain and exhaustion, but till held conviction in its defiance.

"If you give up, I'm sure it'll be quite a relief. No one will bother you, or even pay attention to you. It was alright, but it was still really painful. I felt there was no place for me in this world. But... I have good friends now. And when I tried my best and didn't give up, good things happened! If you give up, your dreams, and everything else, will end right here!"

They were not meant for her... not for Boa Hancock. They were meant for another. They were meant for the one Doto loathed for her connection to his bloodied throne and had locked away in the dungeons that was his castle. Yet... she felt a certain warmth of a fire long thought to have been put out. A hope given to the downtrodden from another of their kin who spoke no lie nor held a false hope by the burning will to improve his life and the life of others.

Yet at the same time no help came for the Boa sisters, also prisoners and slaves of the man who once lorded over the fortress that was his domain. At least not until the battle brought to it was over with. With that in mind came a question molded from wretched experience.

"Are you just another man railing against what you don't like, or are you something else entirely?"

No answer had been reached as of yet by a hesitant mind and a body still recovering from what should've ended his life. Neither sister gave any aid in the matter as they sorted out their own troubles though not unlike Hancock's.

Stirring from the blond haired boy stole her attention as his body squirmed to find new comfort by order of a rousing consciousness made evident from a pair of bright blue eyes groggily peaked out from under the flaps of skin that protected them. Silence was all that stood between the two, punctuated only by grunts from the latter as his mind slowly took in his surroundings with a weighted mind. At least that was the only explanation Hancock could conceive with just waking up and giving only her sisters and herself a mere glance and the eye that cast it only showed interest in a cup of water awaiting him.

It was given to him as a concession from sisters' part, by Marigold's hand to be precise, for his subjective risking of his life when his hand proved unable to grasp it.

Upon quenching his thirst, his spirits seemed to return to their former glory though marred by the lethargy of being inactive for so long. He even finally seemed to have taken notice of the trio as well, after a quick look around the hospital room to confirm his growing suspicion of where he was. Blues settled into an unmoving set of charcoal that bore into them in a silent argument with itself.

"Why did you do it?" Hancock asked him in the same manner as if she was scolding him... for being the gender she made no effort to hide her disdain from.

Twin blond brows furrowed in confusion, further confirmed as he released a "huh?" at Hancock as a non-understanding frown graced him.

"Why did you take those icicles? Don't you have some kind of defense jutsu?" The frown of Naruto Uzumaki increased only by a fraction as he could've sworn her voice raised slightly near the end as something else cracked through.

"No... and it was the only thing I could think of to keep those icicles from getting past me."

A twitch had struck across her right eye, yet as quickly as it had appeared it had disappeared fast enough to make the blond wonder if he had been seeing things. "Are you saying that because we were behind you, you choose to receive bodily harm to ensure that we didn't get harmed?"

"Uh... yeah."

Hancock's face went neutral in secluded thoughts. "Unbelievable," she finally muttered amongst other things she cradled her face in her palm.

"Huh?"

"You could say we're more accustomed to men favoring themselves rather than others..." Sandersonia offered reluctantly after leveling a placid eye on him.

The blonds' face scrunched up in a scowl. "I don't know what kind of lives you three had but know this," he jutted a thumb at himself. "I promised that I would help and protect you, and I never go back on my word! That's my nindo! My shinobi way!"

Hancock, during Naruto's rant, finally peered up again from her own clutch with the barest hinting of a smile threatening to break loose upon her as he mind dared a thought in her head...

_(End Flashback!)_

XVX

Uzumaki compound

Slender fingers gently, tenderly, and tentatively caress the relic of a time past and probably kept to remember it as the clock took its course.

"We never really got off on the right foot when we met him now did we?" the eldest sister asked lowly as her mind continued its trip through memory lane with only half a mind devoted to the world as it is.

"Well you could say your foot made an impression..."

"With the back of his skull."

All three gave in to an embarrassed giggle of benign amusement with a small hint of regret lacing through Hancock's own chuckle. Even when stricken with the giggle, she eventually relinquished control of the jumpsuit and let it fall into the clutches of her sisters as she leaned back and stared at her surroundings walls and the ceiling they encompassed; her mind adrift once more.

XVX

Hallway

"I think my legs are asleep," Naruto grumbled as he stared at the end of the hallway in annoyed hopelessness. Even after Salome had fallen asleep some time before, his grip of the genin had yet to diminish in any such form.

"I just had to get the idea to get her a pet snake... I knew I should've gone with the toad but nooooo," he griped.

The growl of a hungry stomach soon present to all capable of hearing.

"Yep... should've gone with the toad."

**A/N: Originally when I wrote this I was going to end the story at this chapter...**

**Just didn't feel right to end things there without properly building up to a family relationship, so the story continues!**

**Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I own not either Naruto nor One Piece though I wish I do... Oh well have fun reading the story while I mope in the corner!**

**My warning is still in effect.**

Snake Sisters

Chapter 6: When on the road

_(Flashback!)_

Forested road, Land of Fire, four days after leaving Corro

From a distance most would say Hancock's eyes were just as black as Sasuke Uchiha's, yet on closer inspection they were in fact dark blue. It was a fact only Naruto seemed to have noticed where everyone else seemed to have not consciously acknowledge or cared as the case may be. In any event, this detail went unnoticed by the Uchiha Avenger as he and the head of the Boa sisters squared off in a half lidded staring contest of heated proportions. As to what lead to this event, only those two knew while everyone else was left in the dark.

As mysteriously as it started, it was broken off with both parties suddenly jerking their heads away with a respective huff from both parties followed shortly by a glare aimed at each other. Only Hancock's glare that consisted of slits for eyes.

XVX

Two hours later

Due to the brilliant plan that was Naruto's strategy, he only had one of his jumpsuits at his disposal whereas underclothing was abundant. As such his hole-y garments were his only means of decency, outside his underwear and shirt, were the only thing keeping him decent outside of his sandals as he sat himself on the ground and stared at his outstretched hand that was held tightly at the wrist by his spare hand.

"Come on," he lowly coaxed. In his palm, a familiar spiral pattern of chakra swirled into existence-

"Hey Naruto-" And there it went as quickly as it appeared with just as much evidence of its leave as its arrival.

"Gah!" Naruto cried. "I just had it too!" he wailed as he furiously tore both hands through his golden hair. In his frustrated sorrow he fell onto his back and rolled around uncontrollably as he continued to vent in aggravation with closed eyes. "Why must this technique be so hard to learn again! I can do it with a clone! But what kind of Hokage would I be if everyone else can use it with only one hand!?"

"Naruto?" Stopping suddenly on his back, the blond at last opened his eyes in hope of gazing upon the original reason to his latest failure of forming a Rasengan with but one hand as opposed to three, if his clone's hands were to be counted of course.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" he quizzically asked in genuine curiosity. The world as he knew it was cast in darkness, though what was with the small horizon of light near the ground every which way he turned his head where his cheek would be flush with the ground... and why was the horizon shaking slightly along the top of the band of light?

Wait...

"Uh-oh..."

XVX

"**_YOU PERVERT!_**"

_WHAM!_

Every bird, squirrel, and even acorns were jostled out of whatever tree a twelve-to-thirteen year old boy was jettisoned to and fled for their lives. At least the birds did in a more noticeable fashion at least between their panicked tweeting and from the fact that they climbed as high into the skies as fast as their wings could take them. "Hm." Kakashi just lazily turned to the next page of his book, his mind had long since chalked this occurrence up as a poorly thought out stunt, most likely accidental by nature, on Naruto's part.

Hancock storming away with a exasperated huff and reddened cheeks, in a newly acquired dress gained from the last town they stayed in no less, only served to solidify the current theory of Naruto doing something brainless.

"_Na-ru-to_..." Sakura growled as she raised a trembling fist. With a resigned sigh, the only jonin, and adult for that matter, closed his book. "Better save Naruto," he mumbled. Even he doubted Naruto's ability to survive between Sakura and undoubtedly whatever the Sisters would come up with upon learning whatever set Hancock off.

Sometimes it was downright troublesome to be a jonin-sensei... there was hardly time to read any more between the missions, (cough) training (cough), and occasionally saving Naruto from the wrath teenage girls who, in majority at least, have ninja (cough) training (cough).

_Rumble_.

With a collective bead of sweat threatening to drop from him due to the trepidation of what he suspected, he hesitantly turned toward the _cloudless_ sky.

XVX

Five days later

Reaching Konoha just couldn't happen soon enough for Kakashi as he snapped his book shut once again much to his dislike. While he certainly had expected some degree of trouble as her served as an instructor, his experience and knowledge of such a fact drawn from his own discretions in the past, but he was certainly treading in new territory, for him at least, as he went to save Naruto... again.

In the past few days his team's ability to work exactly as they are called, a team, essentially went to hell when Naruto had taken upon himself the duty of apologizing to Hancock for whatever transgression he had originally incurred. That went as well as walking into the shower first thing in the morning, having just gotten up from bed, and learning firsthand the water heater was out of order.

Of the noteworthy beatings he had to rescue Naruto from in the short period of time that made this trip insufferable for his reading time, there was the time he accidentally walked into the girls while they were bathing at a creek, trying to assuage the current moods with gifts consisting of poison ivy made into armlets, and getting the idea of asking Sasuke for help...

That only made things worse for reasons beyond the jonin.

Sighing heavily, the man stretched out an arm without looking to catch an unconscious blond that rocketed through the air. "What did you do this time Naruto?" he asked rhetorically.

As if to answer, a toad smacked into the genin's face with a croak of agony spilling into the air from both the impact to the blonde's face and the subsequent fall to the ground. "Ok... I'm not even going to guess," the silver haired man grumbled as he rubbed his own face. By whatever power Naruto ran on besides ramen and at times chakra given by an outside source (the Nine-Tails included), the Boa Sisters had gotten it into their minds to follow Kakashi's team back to Konoha, however hesitant they were regarding the male-to-female ratio Team Seven already had with a slightly more tolerable disposition towards the blond himself even in the current war as it were. Between the obligations of being a gentlemen to poor women down on their luck and the fact that Naruto would most likely raise whatever hell there was to be raised, the jonin had to accept this. But with things going as they were, it may as well take a month to get back where it would take a couple of weeks at the most.

There was only one method he had at his disposal to in any way end this debacle: Get off the road and head into the nearest town, village, or city if that was the case. Whether or not this would succeed in some form could only be ascertained by performing the act, at the very least it might cool their passions down long enough for some semblance of order to be established once more when everyone was distracted by whatever marvels the town, village, city... frankly any significant gathering of people. Provided that said people didn't want to kill them of course, that was a given.

"Now where's that map?" he mumbled to himself as he dragged Naruto through the air with nary a thought given to him.

XVX

"Stupid little orange nutcase..." Hancock muttered lowly as she applied a brush to her hair as a means to calm her angered nerves brought on by the latest asinine plot Naruto cooked up. A mild curse went through her mind as the want for a mirror haunted her with each stroke of the brush.

"Sister," Marigold cooed, "why do we have to follow these people?"

"Granted Bonehead saved our lives, but certainly we're not obligated to go to this Konoha place..." Sandersonia added.

The brush stopped in mid-stroke. This was not the first time this issue was brought up. They weren't bound by chains any longer. They were free... They could go anywhere they desired...

The brush continued its repeated pace. "I'm just indulging that idiot's whim, nothing more..." she stated. A frown however marked her lips as a thought once again crept through her mind and gave her chills. "What happens next?" She stroked her hair all the more passionately as she tried to blot out the question.

Thoughts of the future never did play out well for her or her sisters...

XVX

Sasuke's hand almost reverently skimmed along the edge of a tree abused by the most peculiar of ailments to strike a living being: Petrifaction; the state in which a substance turned to stone.

Courtesy of a chakra fueled kick from Hancock. He only knew this by the chance discovery of a late night stroll to alleviate the recent nightmares involving his older brother. She was no kunoichi by any true standard, but it was obvious she was trained enough to utilize chakra for whatever purpose that training was brought on about, in all likelihood it was to use this bizarre yet deadly ability to bring down whatever foe that was unlucky enough to be hit. Of course, in being honest with himself, Sasuke actually thought it was something of a hoax when he stumbled across the teen as she practiced simple kicking on a tree they had long since left behind; he just waited till whatever method Hancock used was revealed to his sharingan eye.

But as time passed a new theory presented itself to him: Kekkai Genkai; bloodline limit. Unfortunately by the time this hypothesis came to mind, Hancock seemed paranoid enough to limit her excursions into the night as well as keeping an eye on him where she could. If she actually knew he was spying on her as of late, she had yet to reveal it.

As for her sisters, either they weren't as interested in becoming in any way effective of using this possible bloodline limit or they seemed to lack the traits needed to use it like Tsunade of the Senju clan for example not to mention some of her kin before they died. Even some members of the Uchiha clan weren't even able to use their own bloodline abilities for that matter, much to Sasuke's regret regarding it. So that left Hancock as his...subject of study for the time being. But with her vastly decreased frequency of training, if he could call it that, it seemed impossible to determine if it was a bloodline at work or not under not only the circumstances behind his method of "research" but from the lack of any form of education into a medical or forensic field to learn the truth of the matter...

Of course his minute hopes of learning the truth were resurrected when opportunity came knocking in the form of his teammate. He couldn't help but smirk both then and now as he turned his greatest hindrance into possibly his greatest hope to date. "Who knew Naruto being annoying would actually help me," he muttered quietly.


End file.
